Abstract:

The environmental potential for green business models is considerable if current barriers can be identified and ways of overcoming them developed. Barriers to green business models are investigated by conducting a qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews are carried with a selected 19 UK construction industry experts from both academia and practices and results are obtained by applying thematic analysis. Five major categories of barriers are emerged from the analysis: government constraints; financial constraints; industry constraints; company constraints; and lack of demand. The results show that the barriers are both internal and external to construction companies. Financial institutions are expected to play a major role on the future of green business models by investing in performance-oriented models and allowing access to finance for construction companies that perform better in environmental terms. Finally, a collective effort is needed from governments, financial institutions, construction industry leaders, client groups, community, and individuals to combat these barriers and to increase green business models uptake.